With overseas employment a more permanent feature of the development strategies of a number of Asian states, predeparture orientation programs have emerged as an important tool for the protection of migrant workers. These training and education programs are overseen by the state, which plays a strong role in overseas employment.

The programs serve to inform migrants in order to ease their transitions into destination countries and empower them to take full advantage of employment abroad. This issue brief examines the strengths, limitations, and areas for improvement of this intervention, based on findings from field research conducted in Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines. While all three countries have the shared goal of using migration as a tool for economic development, each has implemented predeparture programs in different ways.

The authors find that while predeparture programs are essential for protecting the rights of migrants, they are not sufficient on their own. To best protect migrants, various other types of interventions should be implemented at every stage in the migration cycle.

Migrants, Migration, and Development

MPI's Migrants, Migration, and Development Program focuses on the intersection of migration and development policies and trends, moving beyond simple notions that development is a “cure” for migration or that migration is a recipe for development.